Chemical fire-extinguisher



(No Modl.)

W. F. SINGER.

CHEMICAL FIRE EXTINGUISHBR. A No. 467,142. Patented Jan. 12, 1892.

UNITED STATES j PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. SINGER, OFCARTI-IGE, NEW YORK'.

l CHEMICAL FIRE- gxrlNculsll En.

SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters Patent N0. 467,142,vda.t6d 12, 1892.

I Application filed September 1890. Serial No. 364,053. (No model.)

To al@ whom it mag/concern: Y -lie 1t known that I, WILLIAM F. SINGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Car.

' thage, in the county of Jeerson and State of New York, have invented certain new and use-v ful Improvements 'in Stationary. Automatic Fire-Extinguishers; and I do declare the. following t9 be a full, clear,- and, exact "descripl tion of the nventiomsuchas willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the lettersof reference marked thereon, which form .a part of this specification, i

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in stationary automatic kind mentioned in which'the equipped buildre-extinguishers; and it has for its object to provide a new andimproved apparatus of the ing is provided with a' battery of gas-reservoirs adapted to be chargedwith carbonic-j acid gas compressed-to a liquid form, in oo nnection with a separate series of reservoirs containing water, connections between the said 'gasfreservoirs and the water-reservoirs', whereby the. gas may be admitted to the wa terreservoirs and will serve to force the wa- 'ter through suitable pipes with which the building is equipped, the pipesin the several stories of the building with sprinkler-heads,` ,wh1ch, when opened by the action of .heat,

, l will serve to distribute the .mingled gas and water throughout the apartment.

To these ends and to such Iothersas the in'- vention may pertain the same consists in the peculiar construction and in the novel coml' bination, arrangement, and adaptation of l parts, all as more fully hereinafter described, AI -shbwn 1 n the accompanyingdrawings, and' claims.v

p -v The inventionis aocompanying drawings, which, with the letthen specifically defined in theappended `4clearly illustrated in v the ters of reference marked thereon, for-ma part -of'this specification, like 'letters of 'reference indicating like 'partsl throughout the several views, and in which drawings- Figure 1 is a vertical section of a. building provided with my improved fire-extinguishing apparatus. Eig. 2 is a central verticalsection of the automaticcheck-valve. Fig-3 regulator.

Reference now being had vto the details of thedrawngs by letter, A designates the building, and B, C, and D the several stories ofthe Same.

is a similar view of the automatic pressure- 'Within a'suitable compartment in the base- Ament. of the building 'is arranged a series oi' battery of gas-reservoirs E.' These reservoirs are preferably arranged oneabove another, and are in the present instance shownfas supported by suitable armsv or brackets F, extended from` the wall of the compartment. These reservoirsare adapted to contain a noncombustible gas compressed toa liquid form and are each connected with the common pipe G, from which the gas is admitted to the lower reservoir H of the series ll of water-rese rivoirs after passing through the check-valve `I andthe automatic pressure-regulator J, as

will be hereinafter explained. It will be un derstood that the gas is held within the gasreserveirs under a much higher pressure than is required in forcing the water from the water-reservoirs to the sprinklerfheads, and hence the pressure-'regulating valve .I is introdnced between the gas and water reservoirs for the purpose of reducing the pressnre to the proper limit.

v The series H of water-reservoirs is arranged in the basement of the building and in close proximity to the gas-reservoirs, and the res! ervoirsin the series, like the gas-reservoirs just described, other and have pipe connectionsat their ends are arranged one above thev so arranged that the water will pass from the lower reservoir into the one directly above it by means of the pipe K, thence through the pipe K', which-leads; from the lower' edge of the reservoir-head at the opposite end of the reservoir to the. lower edge of the reservoirhead directly above it, and thence through similar 'pipes arranged alternately at opposite ends of the battery of reservoirs tothe upper reservoir in the battery, from which the waout the' building, and is provided at conven-` ient or suitable intervals with sprinkler-heads M, which heads may-be of any suitable constructionadapted to distribute the water and gas in the apartment when the head is opened il ter passes into thepi pe L, 'which leadsthrough-/l roo by heat. Many forms of these heads are now in common use, and as their construction and operation are familiar to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains and as in the present application no claim is made to the construction of the sprinkler-head I will not in this connection attempt a description of the same.

The pressure-regulating valve J is of ordinary and well-known construction and serves to automatically regulate the pressure of the gas passing through it, and as valves of this character are common and their operation Passed vertically through the partition b is the piston-rod e, a suitable gland and stutting-box e being provided within the'partition b. A piston e2 is provided at theupper end of the piston-rod, and at itslower end the rod is provided with a valve e3, adapted when the rod is at its lowest point to close the opening. The operation of this e* in the valve-seat e5. valve will-be presently explained in connection with the description of the operation of p the system.

The pipe K, which leads from the pressureregulator to the water-reservoirs, is provided with a valve L, and between the regulator and valve L a small pipe K2 leads upward to the first story of the building, where it is provided with a whistle K3 at the upper end of the pipe. Leading from the whistle-pipe at a point adjacent to the floor of the apartment is a pipe K4, which connects with the pipes L of the building, and at a point upon the pipe K2 above the point at which it connects with the pipe K4 is provided apressure-regilvlating valve K5, for a purpose which will pres ently appear. A shut-off valve K12 is provided in the pipe K4, for a purpose which will presently appear.

A small pipe G2 leads from the common pipe G to some convenient place in the building, where it is provided' with a gage G3, which will serve to at all times indicate the pressure of the gas within the storage-reservoirs.

In operation, the gas and water reservoirs having been lled,the valve L is closed and the Valve K12 is opened and the gas is allowed to enter the common pipe G, from whence it will pass through the pressure-regulating and check valves I and J, respectively. The valve L being closed, the gas enters the pipe K2, and thence through the pipe K4 it passes to the pipes L of the building system, and after passing through the pipes of the building it will return to the pressure-regulating valve I, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 1 of the drawings. As this valve is constructed to close when a slight predetermined pressure is reached in the pipes `of the building system, the gas will continue to ilow into the building-system pipes until said predetermined pressure has been reached, when it will serve to close the valve. The pressure thus maintained within the building-system pipes is less than that necessary to operate the valve Kis upon the whistle-pipe, and said whistle will not be sounded until a greater pressure is secured. The building-pi pes having thus been filled with gas at a nominal pressure, the valve Ku is closed and the "alve L is opened and the gas is allowed access to the water-reservoirs; but as the building-systern pipes have been previously charged suf- 4 ticiently to close the regulating-valve I .the full pressure ofthe gas from the gas-reservoirs upon the gas thus entering the waterreservoirs has been cutoff, and it is thus held in readiness to act when the pressure upon the building-system pipes has been released, thus opening the regulating-valve I and ad- `mitting the gas from the gas-storage reservoirs. It will thus be seen that the pipes of the building system will at all times be charged with gas under a nominal degree of pressure sufficient to hold the regulating valve normally closed and sufficient to keep 4 the pipes at all, times dry and free from rusting. l

In case any of the automatic sprinklerheads connected with the pipes in the building system are opened by the action of heat this opening of the heads will serve to allow the gas within the pipes to escape, thus automatically relieving the pressure upon the regulating-valve, which will be at once forced open by the pressure of the gas in the gasreservoirs, and as the valve L, which controls IOO the entrance to the water-reservoirs, is open,

the gas will enter said reservoirs and the mingled gas and water will be forced through the pipes in the building system and will pass out through the sprinkler head or heads that have been opened, and will thus serve to extinguish the fire within the apartment within which the sprinkler-headis located.

It is well known that carbonic-acid gas mingled with water is a much more effectual medium for extinguishing res than would be either gas or water alone, and hence the special value of this form of extinguishing apparatus will be at once apparent.

In order that the operation of the automatic check-valve Imay not be confused with that of a pressure-regulating valve, we will suppose, for instance, that the pressure in the gas-cylinders is four hundred pounds per square inch and that the diameter of pistonhead e2 in the valve is two and one-half inches and the diameter of the check-valve e twenty-live pounds, and hence a pressure inch. It will thus be seen that a pressure of one pound upon the piston will serve to close the check-valve against a pressure of of sixteen pounds in the pipes of the building system will serve to close the valve against the pressure of four hundred pounds in 'the gas-reservoirs and shut off the supply of gas,

and it will also be understood that when the pressure of sixteen pounds within the pipes of the building system is lessened by the escape of gas occasioned by the opening of the sprinkler-.heads thc valve will bc at once opened toits full extent.

What I claim as new is- 1. In a fire-extinguishing apparatus having a series of pipes arranged about a room or building, with exposed automatic sprinklerheads, tanks containing a non-combustible gas, and tanks or reservoirs containing water, said tanks being in connection with the pipes,

and a pressme-regulator acted upon by the gas in the pipes, substantially as shown and described.

2. A {ire-extinguishing apparatus comprising, in combination with a rooin or building, a series of pipes, provided with automatic sprinkler-heads, a storage-reservoir containing a non-combustible gas under pressure, a water-reservoir, connections, substantially as described, between said gas a'nd water reservoirs and the reservoirs and the pipes in the building, and pressure-regulating and check valves interposed between the gas and water reservoirs, all arranged and operating substantially as described.

In testimony whereof l affix in y signature in presence of two witnesses.

WlLLlAh'i F. SNGiR.

Nitnessesz J. E. Rawson, GEO. W. MASON. 

